Wladimir Klitschko gets sold short

Credit: Unknown

UNDERVALUED: Wladimir Klitschko may get his biggest payday ever in October when he fights Alexander Povetkin, but he won’t get the credit he deserves.

Is longevity alone enough for greatness? That is a difficult question to answer, but one that must be posed in the sad case of poor Wladimir Klitschko.

The unified heavyweight champion agreed Tuesday to risk the four world titles he holds (IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO) Oct. 5 in Moscow against undefeated Russian challenger Alexander Povetkin — the WBA’s “regular” champion as opposed to Klitschko’s “super” champion status — at NSC Olimpiyskiy Arena. Although few give Povetkin much of a chance, one could argue it’s the best challenger Klitschko has faced in a career that is approaching numbers owned only by the greatest heavyweights of all time.

This is the 37-year-old Klitschko’s second reign as heavyweight champion and he has been dominant. Since winning the IBF and IBO titles back on April 22, 2006, when he destroyed Chris Byrd in seven rounds, Klitschko has defended his various titles 14 times, leaving him third all-time in heavyweight title defenses behind only Joe Louis (25) and Larry Holmes (20).

He has now held the heavyweight title for seven years, three months and 17 days, passing Holmes into second-place in length of heavyweight title reign. Holmes was champion for seven years, three months and 12 days. Klitschko still has a way to go to pass Louis, who had the longest reign at 11 years, eight months and eight days.

They all faced the best of their eras and arguably so did Klitschko, who will enter the ring in October with a 60-3 record that includes 51 KOs, yet without the signature victory all great champions must possess.

Klitschko has been severely punished for this in many corners, including this one, but a man can only be fairly judged in his own era and he has long been the most dominating heavyweight of his time.

One can argue that this is a fallow time for heavyweights, but is that Klitschko’s fault? Is it fair to demand he beat challengers who do not exist? Is it fair to blame him for the quality of opposition when he has ducked no one?

No, yet the fact is the fight for which the Klitschko brothers are best remembered remains Vitali Klitschko’s sixth-round TKO loss to Lennox Lewis 10 years ago, because it was a night of savage bravery on his part, a slugfest between two men who refused to buckle.

Although Vitali Klitschko lost because his eye was nearly gouged out of his head, he gained more in the public’s eye from that defeat than any of their victories. Sadly, the same will likely be true again if Wladimir Klitschko, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist, defeats Povetkin, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in Moscow, as expected even though it is clearly the best fight to be made short of facing his own brother.

While the fight may not settle the issue of Klitschko’s greatness, it has its own odd history. It went to purse bid in April, even though both fighters had interim title defenses to make before they would meet and the winning bid was stunning.

Klitschko’s K2 Promotions bid $7.13 million and Sauerland Event, Povetkin’s promoter, bid $6,014,444. Both were trumped by Russian promoter Vladimir Hryunov, who bid an astronomical $23,333,330, the third-biggest winning purse bid ever for a fight few believe can come close to generating that kind of money.

In their mandatory defenses, Klitschko blew through Francesco Pianeta, stopping him in the sixth round May 4, and Povetkin (26-0, 18 KOs) did the same on May 17, knocking out Andrzej Wawrzyk in the third round to set up the most lucrative fight of their careers.

Under the terms of the purse bid, Klitschko will receive 75 percent, $17,499,997, while Povetkin’s side is due the remaining 25 percent, $5,833,333. Klitschko is far more likely to see a full share of his end than Povetkin, however, because there are more hands in his pocket than there are pockets on his trousers.

Povetkin had twice before been Klitschko’s mandatory challenger but pulled out after K2 Promotions won both of those purse bids, declining to make the challenge. That now looks like a wise business decision, one first made by his former trainer Teddy Atlas.

Atlas was vilified at the time by the media and Sauerland, but under his contract at the time Povetkin would have received only about $200,000. As the WBA interim champion and beneficiary of a remarkable purse bid by his friend Hryunov he should receive that many times over. What Klitschko will receive is his biggest payday and very likely less credit than he deserves for dominating his era.

Weeding out Vegas

Remember that marijuana joint that cost Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. $900,000 when he tested positive after his loss to Sergio Martinez? The price just dropped to $100,000.

On a 4-0 vote, the Nevada State Athletic Commission voted last week to lower that massive fine it handed out after he tested positive for marijuana following his unanimous decision loss to Martinez last Sept. 15 to relative chump change level.

Chavez’ purse for the fight was $3 million so a $900,000 fine, though probably tax deductible, was a serious bite out of his earnings. While Chavez was willing to serve his nine-month suspension (because he didn’t intend to fight in that time period anyway), he believed the fine was excessive and his lawyers were preparing to sue the commission over it, claiming it violated the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which bars excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishment.

The two sides had been in negotiations to reduce the fine, which the commission did in part because the World Anti-Doping Agency provided them cover on May 11, when it revised its policy on marijuana use, which increased the threshold for what constitutes a positive test. Under the new rules, Chavez would not have tested positive. Go figure.

The NSAC did and Chavez got a nearly 90% reduction. Not bad, especially since he’ll make that $100,000 back and a lot more Sept. 7 when he returns to the ring to face Brian Vera at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in the main event of an HBO broadcast.

‘Money’ may talk

In case you missed it, the Sept. 14 fight between Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to unify the junior middleweight championship at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas sold out in less than 24 hours, breaking the all-time live gate record for a boxing event.

The fight will generate a minimum of $18,647,000 in ticket sales and could go higher depending on the number of comps that are given out and apparently all that cash has Mayweather re-thinking his boxing future.

After reiterating his insistence he would retire at the end of the five fights left on a deal with Showtime that guarantees him $32.5 million a fight plus a possible upside when his 10-city, two country, nine-day promotional tour with Alvarez began, by the time he’d reached the Alamo in San Antonio on Monday night Mayweather was whistling a different tune.

“After my five more fights, guess what?” he said. “I think after (getting to) 49-0, we may stay in this sport a little longer. This Sept. 14, it’s just another walk in the park.”

In 2007 Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya set every boxing revenue mark including pay-per-view sales at nearly 2.5 million buys and the all-time gate record of $18,419,200. That surpassed the previous record of $16,860,300 by the 1999 heavyweight champion rematch between Lewis and Evander Holyfield.

Short jabs

Ryota Murata, the 2012 Olympic middleweight gold medalist from Japan, will make his pro debut Aug. 25 in Tokyo vs. Akio Shibata (21-7-1, 9 KOs) in a six-rounder. Murata is already a hero in Japan after becoming its first boxing gold medalist since Takao Sakurai at the 1964 Tokyo Games. Murata is also the first Japanese fighter to win an Olympic medal in a division other than bantamweight or flyweight. . . .

One of America’s few heavyweight prospects, Deontay Wilder, is now set to face former champion Sergei Liakhovich Aug. 9 at the Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, Calif., on Showtime. Wilder had hoped the fight would be in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala., but the logistics didn’t work so it has ended up in the California desert. Seems the proper place for most American heavyweights these days — the desert. . . .

Jenny Craig should open a special service for boxers. Recently former two-time champion Joan Guzman was booted off a fight card in Florida after missing weight for at least the fourth time in his career when he tipped the scales for his junior welterweight bout an astonishing eight pounds, two ounces over the 140-pound junior welterweight limit for a fight with Vicente Mosquera, and last week ex-super middleweight champion Allan Green came in six pounds over the 180-pound limit agreed to for a ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights” card and the following day pulled out claiming, of all things, food poisoning! I’d say so. . . .

According to the Nielsen ratings, power punching middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin was a hit to more people than challenger Matthew Macklin last weekend. The fight drew 1.1 million viewers, the biggest audience of Golovkin’s three HBO appearances. . . .

ESPN boxing returns to Salem, N.H., July 19 for the first time in three years when ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” visits Rockingham Park. The main event pits WBC No. 3 junior welterweight Ajose Olusegun (31-1, 18 KOs) vs. Hank Lundy (23-1-1, 11 KOs). The co-feature matches two undefeated rising prospects, Ryan Kielczewski (16-0, 3 KOs) vs. power punching Miguel Soto (11-0, 11 KOs) in an eight-round super featherweight brawl. Lundy, promoted by Providence’s Jimmy Burchfield, is coming off back-to-back losses, the first a majority decision to Raymundo Beltran that could have gone either way and then a 12-round decision to Viktor Postol in Postol’s native Ukraine.

Lundy is anxious to get in with Olusegun to try and get himself back into title contention. Olusegun’s only loss came by 10th round TKO to hard-hitting Lucas Matthysse. This will be Lundy’s second fight at 140 and he claims he will be stronger because “I’ve been killing my body to make 135, coming down from 160.” Since 2010, the combined record of Lundy’s opponents is 187-16-3 according to Burchfield, so Olusegun is merely another challenge for the Philadelphian who has been boxing around New England the past three years.